The present invention relates to dental picks, and in particular, to a container and dispenser for dental picks.
Dental picks are picks that can be used in a manner similar to a toothpick and in a manner similar to floss. Dental picks are capable of being inserted between two teeth to remove stuck food, bacteria, or other debris. Dental picks are typically made out of molded plastic and include a cylindrical rod with a handle section at a first end of the cylindrical rod, and a second end of the cylindrical rod that gradually tapers to a point. Attached to the second end of the cylindrical rod are soft, flexible bristles. These bristles are typically made out of nylon filaments or a rubber-like elastomer material. The second end of the dental pick with the bristles can be used to clean spaces in the oral cavity in a variety of ways. First, dental picks can be inserted between two teeth to remove stuck food, bacteria, plaque, and other debris. Second, dental picks can be used around implants, bridges, crowns, and other dental devices, to remove any stuck food, bacteria, and other debris. Third, dental picks can be used around orthodontic appliances, including braces, brackets, and permanent retainers, to remove any stuck food, bacteria, or other debris.
Dental picks are typically manufactured and sold in sheets of interconnected dental picks. A sheet of dental picks typically includes several dental picks that are connected to one another at the handle portion. The dental picks can be separated by bending or twisting the sheet to break the dental picks apart from each other. There are disadvantages to snapping and breaking the sheet of dental picks apart in this manner. First, breaking the dental picks apart can be cumbersome and time consuming for the user. Second, after the dental picks have been separated, it can be cumbersome to contain, store, and dispense the dental picks individually. The storage containers that are available today only accommodate bulk sheets of dental picks and therefore create a cumbersome experience for the user. Some storage containers require both hands of the user to open the container, remove a sheet from the container, manually separate one pick from the sheet, and place the remaining sheet back into the container. Alternatively, if all of the dental picks are separated from the sheet at once, it can be cumbersome for the user to carefully align and place the singular dental picks in the container. The user also has to then be careful to retrieve one dental pick at a time without allowing any of the other dental picks to come out of the container.